CN102132132A - Local decision-making strategy on sharing of sensed data that enhances privacy and reduces communication overhead for services that aggregate data from personal devices - Google Patents

Abstract

Speed information may be beneficial to various entities including other vehicles and central traffic flow monitoring and routing systems. Vehicles with sensors may act as speed probes to update the shared speed via a more global service. However, given privacy preferences, individuals may be reluctant to provide location and speed information. Local policies are described with respect to sharing personal data that can be used to enhance privacy while minimizing communication overhead. The local data sharing policy allows devices to monitor their own speed and location and use models and analysis to determine the value of sharing traffic information with larger services based on privacy preferences and make local decisions as to when to respond to broadcasted queries for specific information while minimizing redundancy of signals from multiple vehicles.

Description

Local decision-making strategy on sharing of sensed data that enhances privacy and reduces communication overhead for services that aggregate data from personal devices

technical field

This specification generally relates to the sharing of sensed information on personally owned devices and vehicles for large-scale systems providing services to people based on the aggregation of sensor data. A key example and application of these methods is in sharing sensed vehicle speed and position information for use in systems that provide traffic flow monitoring and routing services, specifically involving reconciling sensed information from vehicles with available data sharing of services.

background

Computer-driven route planning applications are used to help users locate points of interest, such as specific buildings, addresses, and the like. Additionally, in many existing commercial applications, the user can change the zoom level so that as the zoom level of the map changes, the context and detail can change. For example, details such as names of local roads, identification and location of police boxes and fire stations, identification and location of public services such as libraries, museums, etc. may be provided to the user as the user zooms in on a particular location. When zoomed out, the user can glean information from the map such as the location of the point of interest within a city, state, and/or country, the proximity of the point of interest to major freeways, the proximity of the point of interest to a particular city, and the like. In some applications, satellite imagery can be used to provide users with more details about a particular geographic location or area. For example, a prospective purchaser of a home may obtain aerial satellite imagery of the home, allowing the prospective buyer to view rows of residential homes, the proximity of the home to other neighboring homes, and other information that may be relevant to the user. information.

Additionally, conventional computer-implemented mapping applications often include route planning applications that can be used to provide users with directions between different locations. According to one example, a user may provide the start and end points (eg, start and end addresses) of a trip to the route planning application. A route planning application may include or use representations of roads and intersections and one or more algorithms to output a suggested route of travel. These algorithms may output routes depending on user-selected parameters. For example, a commercial route planning application may include check boxes that enable a user to specify that she or he wishes to avoid roads. Similarly, a user can inform a route planning application that she or he wishes to follow the shortest route or the route that takes the shortest amount of time (as determined by the underlying algorithm). In recent years, people have increasingly relied on route-planning apps to help them with everything from locating a friend's house to planning a cross-country road trip.

overview

An abstract of the specification is shown below in order to provide a basic idea of some aspects of the specification. This summary is not an extensive overview of the specification. Neither identifies key elements of the specification nor delineates the scope of the specification. Its sole purpose is to disclose some concepts of the specification in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

Vehicles, and people in them, typically possess multiple devices (e.g., navigation systems, personal digital assistants, cellular phones) with sensors that can be used to collect a variety of information related to the operation of the vehicle, user conditions, etc. kind of information. Examples of information that may be collected include velocity information as well as location information. According to one aspect of the disclosed invention, speed information (eg, often together with location information) can be used to create direction sets, predictive traffic flow models, etc. for individual users.

The sharing of position and velocity information can be valuable to systems that incorporate such probe information from multiple vehicles. However, such data may also violate the privacy preferences of the vehicle or sensor owner as well as impact the power usage required to run potentially battery powered sensors. Additionally, the cost of communicating or receiving information over a wide area wireless network, such as a cellular network, can be significant. Thus, there is value in limiting the sharing of data such that data is shared within the constraints of a set of preferences for privacy, network usage costs are minimized, and power usage incurred by owners of sensors is minimized. In addition, the speed of information transmission can also be limited based on the available communication bandwidth. One way to limit sharing is through the use of sharing policies, which are locally based but can optionally listen to broadcasted requests for data about a particular area from a central system or a shared distributed system, the central system Or a shared distributed system could calculate when data from a particular location is most valuable, and could also alert a sharing policy to refrain from sending redundant data when data has already been received from another vehicle or device in response to a broadcast request.

A vehicle or a device carried within a vehicle with a locally encoded sharing policy may include a logic or reasoning model to determine whether there are appropriate circumstances to transmit information. A user driving a vehicle may be part of a group of members that provides speed information and potentially other services to the user, as long as she (he) provides her (his) speed information. Vehicles may receive requests to provide speed information from other users or from a central system that aggregates and redistributes speed information, and may include resolution and privacy components that can determine whether speed information should be shared and transmitted. For example, membership in a service or travel group may allow users to invoke a privacy filter that prevents users from being tracked or monitored unless they wish to share data, and may also require certain speeds or context-sensitive speeds (e.g., about Road grades for specific areas or road networks, and/or shared during certain time periods or congestion conditions, etc.) are shared. If the conditions for sharing are met, and if within a certain period of time the user has not provided enough speed information to meet the commitment to share data or share enough data to maintain membership in the traveling group, then the decision should respect the Data request judgment. A central or local distributed contact component may allow information to be transmitted and may send notifications to similarly-situated vehicles that may also respond to data requests, the notification indicating that these similarly-situated vehicles do not respond due to possible transmission redundancy. remaining information. Such a liaison component can limit access to redundant information in order to maximize the value of all members' communications (all members can commit to a similar personal budget for sharing over a certain period of time), or in order to limit invasions of privacy, and in order to Minimize communication when information may not be of much value because it is redundant.

The following description and drawings set forth certain illustrative aspects of the specification. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the description may be employed. Other advantages and novel features of the specification will become apparent from the following detailed description of the specification when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a representative system for communicating travel information in accordance with one aspect of the specification.

2 illustrates a representative system for communicating travel information with selected components highlighted, according to an aspect of the specification.

FIG. 3 illustrates a representative system for communicating travel information with an acquisition component highlighted, according to an aspect of the specification.

4 illustrates a representative system for communicating travel information, highlighting a transmission component, according to an aspect of the specification.

5 illustrates a representative system for communicating travel information, highlighting transaction components, according to an aspect of the specification.

6 illustrates a representative system for communicating travel information, highlighting grouping components, according to an aspect of the specification.

7 illustrates a representative system for conveying travel information, highlighting marker components, according to one aspect of the specification.

FIG. 8 illustrates a representative system for determining whether travel information should be transmitted in accordance with an aspect of the specification.

Figure 9 illustrates a representative central server according to one aspect of the specification.

FIG. 10 illustrates a representative multi-vehicle configuration in accordance with one aspect of the specification.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example travel information processing method according to an aspect of the specification.

12 illustrates an example of a schematic block diagram of a computing environment according to an aspect of the specification.

Figure 13 shows an example of a block diagram of a computer for implementing the disclosed architecture.

A detailed description

The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, various known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the claimed subject matter.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "module," "system," "interface," and the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-related entity, which may be hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or running software. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. As an illustration, both an application running on a controller and a controller can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. As another example, an interface may include I/O components, as well as associated processor, application, and/or API components.

As used herein, the term "inference" generally refers to the process of inferring or inferring the state of a system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations captured through events and/or data. Inference can be used to identify a specific context or action, or to generate, for example, a probability distribution over states. Inference can be probabilistic, that is, computing a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inferences lead to the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, regardless of whether the events are closely related in time, and whether the events and data come from one or more event and data sources.

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter can be implemented as a method, apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques resulting in software, firmware, hardware or any combination thereof controlling a computer to implement the disclosed subject matter. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein may encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier or media. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic stripe), optical disks (e.g., ...CD, DVD...), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., cards, stick, key drive...). Additionally, it should be understood that a carrier wave can be used to carry computer-readable electronic data, such as those used in transmitting and receiving electronic mail or in accessing a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

Additionally, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the term "exemplary" is intended to disclose various concepts in a concrete manner. As used in this application, the term "or" means an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, "using A or B" means any natural inclusive permutation. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then "X employs A or B" is satisfied in any of the above cases. Furthermore, the articles a and an as used in this application and in the appended claims should generally be construed as meaning one or more, unless specified otherwise or clear from context to refer to a singular form. It is understood that the judgments or inferences referred to throughout this specification can be performed using automated learning and/or inference techniques.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , there is shown an example system 100 for communicating travel information, including communication of speed information for a vehicle 102 (eg, automobile, motorcycle, jet ski, airplane, helicopter, etc.). Conventional vehicle tracking systems transmit vehicle speed information to central server 104 . For example, if a user is involved in a car accident, recent speed information can be automatically transmitted to the central server 104, and an inference can be made regarding the severity of the accident. The disclosed invention can transmit vehicle speed information to the central server 104 and/or other vehicles, where the speed information can be used for routing.

Use sensors 106 (e.g., engine, interior and exterior temperature, tire pressure, tire wear, terrain sensors, vibration, noise, air quality, power meter, fuel level sensor, energy level, energy utilization, user pressure, user feedback, voice recognition, facial recognition, gesture recognition, language parser, text input, etc.) to collect information related to the vehicle 102, driver, passengers, environment, etc. Among the sensed information (e.g., travel information may include at least a portion of the sensed information) may be position and velocity information of the vehicle 102 as sensed by sensors such as global positioning system devices, wireless or cellular signals, accelerometers, etc. , and "recognition location" tracking such as the rotation of the tires and the configuration of the steering wheel, among others. Local knowledge about the road network (e.g., using a map database on a GPS device) can be used to further refine the sensed position, orientation, and lane usage (e.g., a vehicle traveling along a freeway interchange , the speed information can be identified as specifically relating to the lanes needed to make the interchange). Velocity information may include the current or historical location of the vehicle 102, combined with its current or historical velocity, acceleration over a period of time, acceleration over a distance, and the like.

The resolution component 108 can determine whether travel information (eg, speed information, location information, etc.) should be transmitted to the assisting entity. People can think of speed information as personal data that they don't want to be broadcast indiscriminately. Because of this concern, a choice can be made as to whether velocity information should be transmitted. For example, the resolution component 102 can operate in a pull mode, where information is pulled by an auxiliary entity, such as the central server 104 . A request for speed information can be transmitted from the central server 104 to the vehicle 102, and the resolution component 108 determines whether the request should be allowed. For example, the resolution component 108 can balance the degree to which the auxiliary entity needs the information with the user's desire to keep the velocity information private. If it is determined that travel information should be transmitted, contact component 110 can allow transmission of the travel information. For example, contact component 110 can send a notification to the transmitter that speed information can be transmitted.

In an alternative embodiment, the resolution component 108 may operate in a push mode, wherein the travel information is automatically transmitted to the auxiliary entity. In an illustrative example, resolution component 108 may use a timer circuit to measure how much time has elapsed since a previous transmission of speed information. If sufficient time has elapsed, resolution component 108 can determine that an update should be sent, and can instruct contact component 110 to allow the update to be transmitted. In another illustrative example, resolution component 108 may refer to knowledge of the road network (eg, using a map database on a global positioning system device) to measure when a vehicle crosses a new road segment for which traffic data may be reported. If the vehicle crosses a new road segment as stored in the map database, the resolution component 108 can determine that an update should be sent and can instruct the contact component 110 to allow the update to be transmitted. Typically, travel information is a vehicle associated with a resolution component and a contact component (e.g., a resolution component and a contact component are integrated on the vehicle, on a device that communicates with the vehicle, on a user's personal electronic device within the vehicle) device, etc.), which may include the speed of the vehicle 102, the speed of the vehicle 102 over a certain period of time, location information when the speed was measured, and the like.

A balance can be struck between a user's desire to keep travel information private and a central entity's desire to obtain specific travel information. Local policies may be used to regulate travel information distribution, usually based on the user's desire to keep the information private. However, the central server 104 and/or other local vehicles may have a strong desire to obtain speed information. Thus, a balance can be struck between the interests of users and the collective interest of collecting information. Local policies may be programmed by the user, inferred by observation of user trends, etc. - in one example, the user may set a policy so that travel information is not disclosed unless the speed of the vehicle 102 is below a threshold percentage of the expected speed (e.g. , speed limit, contextual speed such as during heavy traffic, etc.). In an alternate example, the user may set a policy such that if the speed of the vehicle 102 exceeds the posted speed limit, the reported speed is not the user's true speed, but the posted speed limit. Such a policy would limit users' legal liability for participating in such a system and alleviate users' privacy concerns.

In an illustrative example, a request to collect speed information for a particular vehicle may be made by central server 104 . The resolution component 108 can analyze the request in addition to contextual data, such as how much information the vehicle 102 has previously provided, time of day, other vehicles available, and the like. Based on this analysis, a judgment can be made as to whether travel information should be made public.

In one example set of policies, no data is transmitted, only when the current locally sensed speed of the vehicle is significantly different from the speed known by the local system or determined by the local system to be expected by the larger shared system (e.g. , the difference value exceeds a certain threshold), the larger shared system integrates and distributes all traffic from an area in which the vehicle is sensing or using predictions about speed in an area Current speed information for the tool. For example, a local policy may assert that only current speeds are available in a table of context-sensitive speeds available to the local device or via a live broadcast from a central system about traffic flow in the area the vehicle is sensing. Where the expected speed of the location or road segment is slower than at least a threshold factor based on the road type (e.g., the vehicle is in the 55 mph zone as captured in locally stored statistics or is expected to be 2 p.m. local time on Saturday (in an area where there is no traffic and flows at 50-65 mph, traveling at about 35 mph) before transmitting data. The calculated difference between the sensed speed and the expected speed may be based on the difference between the sensed speed and the speed that can be inferred locally by a predictive model that infers the expected speed based on a variety of factors, including context Factors (e.g. time of day, day of the week, weather, accidents ahead, etc.) A table of predicted speeds computed as a simple function of restricted posted speeds. In an illustrative example, if the sensed speed is relatively high, but the speed is contextually estimated to be low (eg, during rush hour), then resolving component 108 can transmit the sensed speed as travel information.

Other local strategies for sharing include referencing locally stored tables of highly variable regions of the road system or regions that tend to vary significantly at a particular time of day and on a particular day of the week or based on other contextual cues. Such contextual cues may be sensed locally, which may then alert system 100 (eg, vehicle 102 and/or central server 104 ) that current speed information may be of value. A measure that is more informative than using the overall raw change in the current region of the road network being traversed, including changes that depend on the current context (e.g., time of day, day of the week, weather, etc.), and other precomputed quantities , including a more formal measure of the current information value of position and velocity information, including a statistical measure of burstiness that a system observing the area will have if it learns about the current traffic flow, and a formal expectation of sharing information about current velocity Calculations of informational value, and metrics transformed or reweighted according to the importance of current or future road segments based on, for example, the frequency with which the driver population uses the road segment under consideration for travel or routing. Local decisions can be based on conditions such as those described in this specification and can be used with centrally generated queries to the data.

Various pieces of information such as collected materials, component operating instructions (eg, addressing component 108 component operating instructions), historical travel information, etc. may be retained on memory 112 . Memory 112 can take on many different configurations, including as random access memory, power backed up memory, hard disk, magnetic tape, and the like. Various functions can be implemented on storage 112, such as compression and automatic backup (eg, using a "redundant array of independent drives" configuration).

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 , which illustrates an example system 200 for communicating travel information to assisting entities using selection component 202 . Vehicle 102 can communicate with central server 104 so that speed information can be transferred between the two entities. Sensor 106 may measure velocity information and retain the measurements in memory 112 of FIG. 1 .

When travel information should be transmitted, selecting component 202 can select at least one instance from which resolution component 108 determines whether travel information should be transmitted. According to one embodiment, the travel information is speed information of the vehicle 102 associated with the resolution component 108 and the contact component 110, at least one instance is selected when the speed of the vehicle 102 exceeds, is equal to, or falls below a threshold. Using predictive models, the central server 104 can estimate how many vehicles pass through a particular area within a fixed period of time. An assumption may be made by the central server 104 that the vehicle is moving at the expected speed if no notifications are transmitted. The selection component 202 can operate such that if the vehicle has a speed v that is x percent above or below the posted speed limit, then the contact component 110 can allow transmission of the speed v and the location at which the speed v is present. The central server 104 can process the transmission and use the velocity v as an indicator of traffic flow patterns for routing purposes. For example, a low speed may indicate heavy traffic and the vehicle should stay away from the area, and a high speed may indicate low traffic and the vehicle should pass through the area. According to an alternative embodiment, the travel information may be speed information of the vehicle 102 associated with the resolution component 108 and the contact component 110, and when the measured speed does not match the expected speed derived from the predicted traffic flow model, at least an instance. If it is determined that travel information should be transmitted, contact component 110 can operate to allow the travel information to be transmitted.

According to one embodiment, the travel information is speed information. The speed may be selected based on the difference between the current speed and the expected speed derived from posted speeds, expected speeds for road segments transmitted from a central service, stored tables of speeds, use of predictive traffic flow models, or a combination of the above information. Additionally, historical changes in highway speeds across the region or based on current or relevant circumstances may be used in determining whether to share speed information. In addition, the expected value of information or a measure of the value of expected information weighted according to the utilization rate of the road segment may be used when deciding whether to share the speed information.

When no reports are received during the specified observation period, the historical or estimated vehicle density on the highway, as well as the prevalence characteristics of members using the integrated service in an area, can be used to calculate the traffic flow as desired the likelihood ratio. That is, the central server 104 can calculate that no receipt of information about unexpected traffic on a road segment means that the traffic is moving ahead and at the predicted, posted speed, the broadcasted average speed, or other data being used as a reference point. Likelihood ratio within bounds.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , an exemplary system 300 is shown for transmitting travel information about a vehicle 102 to an auxiliary entity, such as a central server 104 , using an acquisition component 302 . The central server 104 may transmit a request to the vehicle 102 for travel information such as current or historical speed of the vehicle 102 . Obtaining component 302 can collect and process requests. Processing a request may include identifying metadata associated with the request, such as the name of the entity that sent the request, determining when the request was sent, authentication of the request, and the like. For example, a request may be received by a vehicle 102 in an area stating that "anyone on road R traveling north between location x and location y needs to provide speed information." According to one embodiment, travel information (eg, speed information) is transmitted at a random time after the collection request within a specified tolerance (eg, within about one minute of receiving the request).

According to one embodiment, once a request is received, sensor 106 (eg, one or more sensors) may obtain velocity information. However, sensors 106 may continuously collect information, specifying information for transmission upon receipt of a request via acquisition component 302 and/or upon successful processing of a request. Resolving component 108 can determine whether travel information should be sent—eg, successful processing by acquisition component 302 can indicate that speed information should be transmitted to central server 104 . If it is determined that travel information should be transmitted, contact component 110 can allow transmission of the travel information. Once a response is transmitted by the vehicle 102, notification of the transmission may be sent to the other vehicles, thus allowing the other vehicles to retain the private information. A notification may be sent by the vehicle 102 following transmission, etc., by the central server 104 following successful collection of speed information. In addition, information verification can be performed to determine whether the transmitted information is credible before other vehicles suppress the information.

According to another embodiment, general announcements may be updated to reflect traffic flow status. Multiple vehicles in an area can send speed information to a central server, where the central server processes and transmits the information to other vehicles and/or uses the information to create travel routes for the vehicles. The speed information can be compared to each other to determine whether there is a significant change between the results, and to compare this information with that of the digital service. If there are no specific changes, then the vehicle may choose to stop sending the message. However, in some cases it is desirable to have redundant data so that information can still be collected despite the redundancy. For example, a vehicle moving slowly may not be indicative of a change in overall traffic flow patterns, so information can still be collected to determine whether there is an actual change or an isolated incident. In addition, certain speed information can be ignored, such as vehicles at toll booths, vehicles stopped due to mechanical failure, vehicles with high passenger capacity, and so on. In addition, the information from certain vehicles can be weighted - if the long-haul truck typically travels about ten miles per hour slower than the average speed of the other vehicles, the speed information for the long-haul truck can be increased by about ten miles per hour.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4 , which illustrates an example system 400 for transmitting travel information to an auxiliary entity using a transmission component 402 . Vehicle 102 may communicate with central server 104 , nearby vehicles connected through an ad-hoc network, or another auxiliary entity. Sensors 106 may measure various travel data, including speed information of vehicle 102 . Sensors 106 may collect data automatically or selectively collect information according to explicit instructions (eg, instructions as part of a request collected by acquisition component 302 of FIG. 3 ).

The resolution component 108 can determine whether the travel information should be passed to another entity. If an affirmative determination is made by resolution component 108, contact component 110 can allow the travel information to be transmitted. Where transmission is permitted, transmitting component 402 transmits the travel information to the assisting entity. Transmissions may be wireless, and since certain travel information may be considered personal, various measures may be taken to preserve privacy. For example, speed information transmitted from vehicle 102 may be encrypted and any identifying information may be removed for speed sharing purposes.

According to one embodiment, the transmission component 402 transmits an inhibition notification to at least one supplementary vehicle, the resolution component 108 and the contact component 110 are associated with the primary vehicle (eg, the vehicle 102 ). If one vehicle transmits speed information, it may be redundant for other vehicles to send similar information (e.g. many vehicles in an area are slower than a threshold). Therefore, when one vehicle successfully transmits information, a notification can be sent to other vehicles that it is not necessary to transmit the same information.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which illustrates an example system 500 for rewarding users for disclosing speed information. Velocity information of the vehicle 102 may be tracked using the sensors 106 of FIG. 1 . Typically, tracking of speed information occurs as a result of an auxiliary entity such as the central server 104 that intends to use the information for routing. Resolving component 108 can determine whether the speed information should be transmitted, and if an affirmative determination is made, contact component 108 can allow the transmission.

The transmission component 402 can transmit the speed information to the central server 104, to another vehicle, and/or the like. The vehicle 102 can include a transaction component 502 that performs reward functions for transmission of travel information, reward functions including transferring funds to an account associated with the user, transferring toll credits, transferring points that can be used to acquire products or services, continuing access to system-wide traffic flow information, other local services, and more. According to one embodiment, transaction component 502 may communicate with central server 104 acting as a bank, credit card company, government organization, and the like.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6 , which illustrates an example system 600 for facilitating membership in a group that shares travel information. Vehicle 102 may determine that speed information should be collected by using sensor 106 of FIG. 1 . Requests that speed information should be transmitted to the central server 104 may be collected. If the request is authenticated, and it is determined that the speed information should be transmitted, contact component 108 can allow the transmission (eg, activate the transmitter to an "on" state).

Since certain travel information, such as speed information, may be considered private, rewards may be used to encourage users to share such information. Grouping component 602 can facilitate users of vehicles to be part of an information sharing group. By sharing her (his) information, a user can become a group member and be eligible to receive travel information for other vehicles. For example, if a user provides her (his) speed y times a month, then she (he) is a member and receives information from other members. In an alternate example, members of a group can pay the system discounted rates for system-wide traffic flow and other services in exchange for greater information sharing.

Tracking component 604 can measure the number of times travel information is transmitted by transmission component 402 of FIG. 4 . Relationship component 606 can determine whether the number of instances is equal to or above a threshold that allows vehicle 102 to associate with resolution component 108 and contact component 110 to obtain membership in the travel group. Membership in a travel group often allows vehicle 102 to collect travel information (eg, speed information) related to at least one other vehicle of the travel group, or travel information derived from other conventional sources, or other services.

Judgments or inferences discussed throughout this specification may be performed by human reasoning and/or. Depending on implementing the automated aspects described herein, automated reasoning and/or learning techniques may use one of various methods for learning from data and then making inferences and/or making judgments related to service applications (e.g., Hidden Markov model (HMM) and related prototypical dependency models; more general probabilistic graphical models such as, for example, Bayesian networks created by structural search using Bayesian model scores or approximations, such as Support Vector Machines (SVM) linear classifiers, non-linear classifiers such as so-called "neural network" methods, fuzzy logic methods, and other methods that perform data fusion, etc.). These methods can also include methods for capturing logical relationships, such as utilizing formal theorem proving systems or through more heuristic rule-based expert systems for reasoning with chains of "If-Then Rules" .

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which illustrates an example system 700 for regulating information transmission using personal landmarks. Vehicle 102 may receive a request from central server 104 to collect speed information. Sensors 106 of FIG. 1 can measure information, and resolution component 108 can determine whether the measured information should be transmitted to the entity identified by central server 104 . If it is determined that speed information should be transmitted, then contact component 110 can allow communication.

One way of regulating whether velocity information should be transmitted is by using personal landmarks as well as more general landmarks. Personal landmarks can be viewed as a private domain in which it is assumed that a user does not want her velocity information to be broadcast. For example, an individual's home or a radius of several miles around the home may be considered a personal landmark or personal zone, which defines a location or area where the user wishes to keep certain information private.

The marker component 702 can facilitate the use of landmarks for the disclosure of travel information. According to one embodiment, the resolution component 108 may be operable to not transmit speed information if the vehicle 102 is within a distance (eg, a certain distance, a number of city blocks, etc.) of the personal landmark. Range component 704 can obtain distances from personal landmarks. If the vehicle 102 associated with the resolution component 108 is within the standard distance from the personal landmark, then it is automatically determined that travel information should not be transmitted.

The marker component 702 can also create new landmarks as appropriate. The identification component 706 can provide information on the amount of time a user, the vehicle 102 associated with the resolution component 108 and the contact component 110, an entity retaining the resolution component 108 and the contact component 110, or a combination of the above spends at a location. Measure to designate the location as a personal landmark. For example, a user may spend a relatively long time at his girlfriend's house, then an inference can be made based on the time he spent at the house that the house should be a personal landmark.

Referring now to FIG. 8 , an example system 800 for regulating transmission of speed information about a vehicle (eg, vehicle 102 of FIG. 1 ) is shown. The identification component 802 can identify appropriate instances of speed information transmissions involving a vehicle—typically by: comparison with known system-wide speed information, receiving a request, referencing knowledge of the road network (e.g., from a map database), Or by using a timing circuit. The identifying component 802 is operable as means for identifying that speed information of the vehicle should be transmitted to an assisting entity by comparing the sensed speed to a threshold.

Resolution component 108 can determine whether velocity information should be transmitted. Range component 704 can measure a distance of a vehicle associated with system 800 from at least one personal landmark. Range component 704 can serve as a means for determining whether a vehicle is within a specified range of a personal landmark. In addition to determining whether there are personal landmarks that can determine the transmission of speed information, the check component 804 can determine whether there is an inhibit command from another vehicle and/or compare the speed information with information from another vehicle to determine whether there is Redundancy, and thus no need for additional information, wastes processing resources, etc. The suppression instruction and/or comparison may be an evaluation to determine relevance, freshness, and the like. The checking component 804 can be implemented as means for checking whether there is an instruction from the supplementary vehicle that speed information should not be transmitted. If the action is appropriate, such as no nearby personal landmarks or restraint instructions, then the contact component 110 can allow velocity information to be communicated. Contact component 110 may operate as a means for allowing transmission of speed information if the vehicle is not within the specified range and there is no instruction from the supplementary vehicle.

Referring now to FIG. 9 , an example central server 104 is shown. Communication component 902 can interface with at least one vehicle for speed information. Operations may be wireless, hardwired, using security techniques (eg, encryption), and the like. Information transmission can be active (eg, query/response) or passive (eg, monitoring public communication signals). In addition, the communication component 902 can also utilize various protective functions, such as performing virus scanning on the collected data, and blocking information whose virus scanning result is positive.

Processor 904 (eg, a processor operably coupled to memory) may perform actions on received responses and/or determine the manner in which travel information is requested. For example, a variety of information may be transmitted from the vehicle to the central server, including vehicle identification details, travel information, and the like. The processor can extract the required information, such as the speed of the vehicle that sent the response and the freshness of the response. Additionally, the processor 904 may also determine an area of interest and request at least one vehicle located in the area of interest to respond with speed information (eg, determine an area based on freshness of the information).

The analysis component 906 can evaluate the velocity and, based on the velocity, make at least one inference or determination. For example, vehicles below a threshold can indicate that a particular route is experiencing traffic congestion. The routing component 908 can change the user's set of directions based on the speed and/or the results of the analysis. For example, if a route is inferred to be blocked, routing component 908 can change the direction set to avoid the blocked route. The changed set of directions can be communicated using the communication component 902 .

It will be appreciated that the components disclosed in this specification may be applied to a central server even when shown as being part of a vehicle. For example, central server 104 may have a transport component similar in function to transport component 402 of FIG. 4 . Additionally, ad hoc mesh networks of vehicles (eg, organically created, maintained networks that function without a central server, etc.) may also be used. Additionally, although FIG. 9 highlights various components as part of the central server 104, it will be appreciated that functionality may also exist as part of other units. For example, routing component 908 may be implemented on a vehicle (eg, vehicle 102 of FIG. 1 ) or a personal electronic device such as a cellular telephone and locally manipulate the direction set.

As opposed to monitoring the vehicle, the central server 104 may operate using a polling or query-response configuration. As opposed to continuously monitoring the vehicle (which can have an impact on the privacy of individuals in the vehicle), the central server 104 can determine the appropriate time to collect travel information, typically based on historical data, environmental information, and calculations such as the value of the information, etc. . Queries for information may be transmitted to multiple vehicles. If the vehicle responds, the central server 104 may process the response and send supplemental information ordering other vehicles not to transmit travel information. In an alternative embodiment, the central server 104 may collect the information without sending suppression instructions - the central server 104 restricts the broadcast of information and thereby enables implicit suppression. In this way, obtaining the information of only one vehicle can keep the privacy of many other vehicles. According to one configuration, queries may involve vehicles within an area, upon request for queries related only to specific coordinates (as determined by locally detected coordinates); however, there may be larger scale and more open-ended Broadcast is available. Additionally, although queries are discussed as being part of the central server 104, it is understood that vehicles may transmit queries between each other to obtain information (e.g., a continuum transmitted between vehicles traveling along a highway). query) and inform other vehicles that traffic data in the local area has been transmitted in order to limit the transmission of redundant information from the vehicle and/or the central server).

Because vehicles have data locally about where they are, they do not need to be pre-monitored by centralized or distributed traffic flow monitoring systems. A vehicle may make decisions based on broadcast queries seeking data about multiple areas or based on system-wide knowledge of expected speed based on reports from other vehicles and/or sources. For example, any traffic on a particular highway between longitude/latitude x, y and longitude/latitude x', y' between the current time t and some future time t' can be received by means of wide-area broadcasting Cognitive requirements for tool velocity information. Such requirements may be calculated, for example, based on informational value calculations performed at a central location that take into account other data received and contextual and historical data. Each vehicle listening to the broadcast may be able to determine locally whether their data is being sought, so that it can be shared without being pre-monitored. This way, vehicles don't have to reveal where they are before receiving such broadcasts, and each vehicle can make decisions consistent with local privacy policies (e.g., within the constraints of personal policies regarding budgets for shared data, greater than a minimum preferred time interval , the allowed positions and velocities for sharing data about positions and velocities) local decision on whether to share velocity and position data. The full information value method can also be implemented locally so that such inferences and considerations are performed without broadcasting.

Different strategies can be used to minimize responses to broadcast demands (e.g., requests from central traffic flow monitoring and sharing services) and/or locally determined strategies (e.g., sensed speeds are judged to be much slower than Obtain redundant data from multiple vehicles in a general area via transmitted or on-board tables or forecast expected speeds). Minimizing the amount of information may benefit both the vehicle (eg, vehicle 102 of FIG. 1 ) and the central server 104 . Fewer vehicles can provide information, so overall privacy is preserved, and the central server 104 does not need to waste resources processing redundant data.

In one approach, a "redundancy avoidance" strategy of data transmission is used by having each car wait for a certain amount of time under a deadline generated from the output of a random number generator. When an answer to a query is received from the first vehicle to report data, a signal sent locally to neighboring vehicles or transmitted from a central traffic accumulator can tell all other candidate vehicles to refrain from transmission, having received enough data, other data will be redundant. Such a strategy could enhance the value of data from each vehicle within budget and transmission policies dictated by each vehicle's privacy and energy consumption preferences. Other strategies for avoiding the transmission of redundant information from multiple vehicles could be to use queries for more accurate sequences of location coordinates such that the chances of querying data from more than one car are low, and to continue querying adjacent locations until Vehicles matching the query criteria (and with available information in terms of privacy and energy preferences) answered the query. That is, given a road segment of interest and a direction, the central system can go up or down the entire road segment of interest for a particular latitude-longitude value by issuing a series of queries for vehicles in sub-segments within the road segment Traverse to "scan" an on-road highway speed provider until a certain vehicle reports data given the privacy constraints. Assuming a failure to receive a response, a set of coordinates can be resent, effectively "raster scanning" the road as the vehicle moves until one reports back.

Such queries could be made without monitoring the vehicles, in which case it would still allow vehicles to be asked whether they could share data in an on-demand fashion, either in real-time or in advance (based on forecasts of future demand). For example, identifying sensed data that highway speeds are much slower than expected at a certain location), a central traffic flow monitoring system can issue a broadcast query for the information. These broadcast queries can be used with the local strategies described throughout the specification for sharing speed data. This can be achieved through information from a central system (or, in a more distributed system, from one or more specific vehicles that can benefit from forward-looking information about future road segments being considered or as part of current planning). Queries for location-specific velocity data are sent by larger scale broadcasts, explicitly requesting data on velocity for a specific area. For example, a query may originate from one or more cars that may benefit from speed data regarding areas of a route that they are expected to encounter or may encounter through upcoming route judgments. Such vehicles may be vehicles that are trailing a particular vehicle, either on the same highway, or are expected to take the same route at some time in the future, or are willing to consider that route segment when considering the optimal route . Requests can be made via a local transport, or proxied by a more central traffic flow monitoring and coordination system. It will be appreciated that although the examples disclose one type of vehicle (eg, a car), other types of vehicles may be substituted.

Reference is now made to FIG. 10 , which illustrates an example vehicle configuration 1000 with respect to aspects disclosed herein. The vehicle 102 can retain a resolution component 108 that determines whether travel information about the vehicle 102 should be transmitted. Typically, the travel information is speed information and/or position information. If it is determined that travel information should be communicated, contact component 110 can allow the travel information to be transmitted.

According to one embodiment, travel information may be distributed locally to certain vehicles. For example, six approaching vehicles, designated vehicles A-F, may surround vehicle 102 . Vehicles E and B may be in the same traffic lane as vehicle 102, while the other vehicles are in adjacent lanes. Different criteria may be used to determine what vehicle obtains another vehicle's travel information. For example, vehicle 102 may experience a sudden drop in speed below a set threshold. A distance criterion may be used whereby vehicles A, B, and C are physically close to vehicle 102 and thus provide travel information to them. In a different configuration, vehicles B and E in a common lane with vehicle 102 may be provided with information by inferring that these vehicles have the highest probability of being affected by a decrease in the speed of vehicle 102 (e.g. , collect lane information through cameras). Information sharing can also occur due to membership in a travel group - if Vehicles A, D, and F are part of an information sharing group, then speed information will be transmitted to them, but not to Vehicles B, C, and E information. Membership can be overridden for safety reasons; for example, Vehicle B can still receive speed information even if it is not part of the membership group because there is a tendency for Vehicle B to be in the same lane as Vehicle 102 and Vehicle B and vehicle 102 are physically close to each other (eg, have a relatively high likelihood of an accident occurring).

According to another embodiment, a selection may be made to determine the vehicles that should communicate speed information. For example, of the six vehicles mentioned above, one can be designated to provide information (eg, randomly selected, by using an algorithm, by a circular queue, etc.). If six vehicles are traveling at about the same speed, resources can be saved by limiting the number of entities transmitting information. There may also be metadata associated with the speed information—in one case, the central server may identify six vehicles traveling at approximately one location (e.g., as determined by global positioning), and one of the six vehicles may be specified One of them to provide information. The information provided can be associated with metadata stating that the readings represent the travel of approximately six vehicles. Plus, security measures can be put in place to ensure accuracy. For example, if a "red" vehicle is selected (eg, the vehicle giving the wrong reading), the contextual information can be used to determine whether the information provided by the "red" vehicle is correct and valid. One way is to compare the speed information against the road type (eg, a speed of twelve mph on a freeway may indicate a "red" vehicle). If there is a relatively high likelihood of a "red" vehicle, then another reading can be taken from at least one of the other five vehicles.

Although aspects are disclosed relating to changes in traffic flow along a road, it is understood that the speed of one road may be indicative of the traffic flow on another road. For example, along Highway 1, there may be accidents that cause a significant reduction in traffic flow. This may indicate that the future traffic flow along the second road near the first road will increase because tourists along the first road may change roads to avoid accidents.

Reference is now made to FIG. 11 , which illustrates an example methodology 1100 for operating a travel information management configuration. A desire to collect velocity information along a fixed area can be identified in act 1102 . For example, a user may issue a request to travel between two locations, typically using a road to link those places - thus, having the desire to know how fast a vehicle is traveling on that road. As such, a desire to collect velocity information may be identified, wherein in the absence of an identified desire, no instruction is transmitted. Although certain aspects of a user requesting route information are disclosed, it is understood that other configurations may be implemented. For example, accurate traffic flow models can be maintained and updated periodically or continuously. In response to the request, the central server can provide the vehicle with information related to the traffic flow model.

At block 1104, it may be identified whether there was a previous instance of gathering speed information from the specified highway. For example, it may be determined that no speed information has been collected from a particular road for a period of time. As such, block 1104 may represent identifying a previous instance of gathering information.

Block 1106 may be triggered to determine whether information collected in a previous instance has an appropriate freshness level and/or may be triggered after data becomes stale, no longer valid (eg, there is a change in weather), and the like. A policy could be that if the information is older than x minutes then the information is considered stale. If the information is fresh enough, then the previous information can be used at Event 1108 . However, if previously collected information is not fresh enough, method 1100 can attempt to collect fresher information.

At block 1110, the areas in which speed information should be collected may be classified, the selected vehicle being located in the classified areas. For example, when a user wishes to travel between two locations where there is a major road, then the classified area may be that road. Additionally, an appropriate time can be determined at event 1112 . For example, if the designated highway will not be traveled for many hours, a later time can be selected whereby the information can have a higher freshness.

At least one vehicle to which to transmit the instruction to provide travel information can be selected at Event 1114 . For example, selection of a vehicle may be made based on balancing membership requirements. The membership criterion is that the vehicle generates travel information x times within y time period. If the first vehicle has generated travel information x times in the y time period before, and the second vehicle has generated the travel information x-2 times in the y time period, then the instruction can be transmitted to the second vehicle because there is no Meet membership quotes. Finally, at act 1116, instructions can be transmitted. In an alternate embodiment, event 1114 and action 1116 may represent scanning for vehicles that match a range of longitude, range of latitude, and range of directionality (e.g., North, North +/-15, etc.) The tool then stops scanning, indicating discovery when it gets a response from that matching vehicle. As such, locating a vehicle and sending instructions is performed in a situation where a requesting broadcast is provided and used to locate the vehicle.

Vehicles can process commands and return travel information. Velocity information relocated from at least one vehicle to which the instruction was transmitted can then be collected at Event 1118 . Information can be transmitted to another vehicle, used to generate direction sets, used to create generalized traffic flow models, etc. According to an arrangement, in act 1120, successfully obtaining travel information may allow a reward to be provided to the entity.

For simplicity of illustration, a methodology that can be implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter is shown and described as a series of blocks. It should be understood and appreciated, however, that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may be performed in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks depicted and described herein. Furthermore, not all illustrated blocks are required to implement the methodology described below. In addition, it should be further understood that the methods disclosed throughout this specification can be stored in an article of manufacture to facilitate transfer and transfer of such methods to a computer. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein may encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier or media.

Personal electronic devices may include Wifi (a possible acronym for "Wireless Fidelity") capability, which may operate in an ad-hoc, low-power mode to create a local grid of observation nodes (eg, vehicles). In one example, a relatively large number of vehicles are slowing down in the direction of a congested point on the highway; as the device notices this slowdown (trend in speed), members of the grid can be notified that certain vehicles have encountered a slowdown Trending notifications. Multiple vehicles can determine a vehicle among them to notify the central service of the trend. Grids can be organic and developed based on various characteristics - such as losing grid members as members exit the highway system (eg, by using off-ramps). Additionally, different vehicles may be requested to provide information about travel more frequently. For example, if a vehicle is approaching a congested area during rush hour, the vehicle can be requested to provide information more frequently so that it can be determined when rush hour begins.

In order to provide context for various aspects of the disclosed subject matter, FIGS. 12 and 13 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in which aspects of the disclosed subject matter may be implemented. Although the invention has been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions of a program that can run on one or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the subject matter described herein can also be Implemented in conjunction with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract data types. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other computer system configurations may be utilized to implement the methods of the present invention, including single processor, multi-processor or multi-core processor computer systems, small computing devices, mainframe computers, and personal computers, laptops, computing devices (for example, personal digital assistants (PDAs), phones, watches...), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. However, some, if not all aspects of the claimed subject matter can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Referring now to FIG. 12, shown is a schematic block diagram of a computing environment 1200 in accordance with the present invention. System 1200 includes one or more clients 1202 . Client 1202 can be hardware and/or software (eg, thread, process, computing device). Client 1202 may, for example, save cookies and/or associated context information by using the present invention.

System 1200 also includes one or more servers 1204 . Server 1204 can also be hardware and/or software (eg, thread, process, computing device). Server 1204 may, for example, by using the present invention, hold threads that perform transformations. One possible communication between client 1202 and server 1204 may be in the form of data packets for transfer between two or more computer processes. Data packets may include, for example, cookies and/or associated contextual information. System 1200 includes a communications framework 1206 (eg, a global communications network such as the Internet) that can be used to facilitate communications between clients 1202 and servers 1204 .

Communications can be facilitated by wired (including optical fiber) and/or wireless technologies. Client 1202 is operatively connected to one or more client data stores 1208, which may be used to store information local to client 1202 (eg, cookies and/or associated contextual information). Likewise, server 1204 may be operatively connected to one or more server data stores 1210 that may be used to store information local to server 1204 .

Referring now to FIG. 13 , shown is a block diagram of a computer for implementing the disclosed architecture. In order to provide additional context for various aspects of the invention, FIG. 13 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment 1100 in which various aspects of the invention may be implemented. Although the invention has been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions that run on one or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can also be implemented in conjunction with other program modules. Implemented in conjunction, and/or as a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other computer system configurations may be utilized to implement the methods of the present invention, including single-processor or multi-processor computer systems, minicomputers, mainframes, and personal computers, handheld computing devices, based Microprocessor or programmable consumer electronics, etc., each of which may be operatively connected to one or more associated devices.

The illustrated aspects of the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computers typically include various computer-readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media including, but not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other storage technology, CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic tape cartridges, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or Any other medium that can be used to store the required information and that can be accessed by a computer.

Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term modulated data signal means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

Referring again to FIG. 13 , an example environment 1300 for implementing aspects of the invention includes a computer 1302 that includes a processing unit 1304 , a system memory 1306 and a system bus 1308 . A system bus 1308 couples system components including, but not limited to, system memory 1306 to processing unit 1304 . The processing unit 1304 may be any of various commercially available processors or proprietary processors with specific configurations. Dual microprocessors and other multi-processor architectures may also be used as processing unit 1304 .

The system bus 1308 can be any of several types of bus structures that further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without memory bus) using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. controller), peripheral bus, and local bus. System memory 1306 includes read only memory (ROM) 1310 and random access memory (RAM) 1312 . Stored in non-volatile memory 1310 such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, is a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), which contains the basic routines that help transfer information between elements within computer 1302, for example, during start-up. RAM 1312 may also include high-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1302 also includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 1314 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which may also be configured for external use on a suitable chassis (not shown), and the computer 1102 also includes a magnetic floppy disk Drive (FDD) 1316 (for example, reads and writes to removable disk 1318) and optical disk drive 1320 (for example, reads and writes CD-ROM disc 1322 or, reads and writes other high-capacity optical media such as DVD). Hard disk drive 1314, magnetic disk drive 1316, and optical disk drive 1320 may be connected to system bus 1308 by hard disk drive interface 1324, magnetic disk drive interface 1326, and optical drive interface 1328, respectively. Interface 1324 for external drive implementation includes at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies. Other external drive connection technologies are also contemplated by the present invention.

The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and the like. For the computer 1302, the drives and media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format. Although the above description of computer-readable media refers to HDDs, removable floppy disks, and removable optical media such as CDs or DVDs, those skilled in the art will understand that other types of computer-readable media, such as compact Drives, magnetic tape cartridges, flash memory cards, etc., may also be used in the example operating environment, and further, any such media may contain computer-executable instructions for performing the methods of the present invention.

A number of program modules can be stored in drives and RAM 1312, including an operating system 1330, one or more application programs 1332, other program modules 1334, and program data 1336. All or a portion of the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data may also be cached in RAM 1312. It is understood that the present invention can be implemented using various proprietary or commercially available operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user may enter commands and information into the computer 1302 through one or more wired/wireless input devices, such as a keyboard 1338 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1340 . Other input devices (not shown) may include microphones, IR remotes, joysticks, game pads, stylus, touch screens, and the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 1308 through an input device interface 1342 coupled to the system bus 1304, but may also be through other interfaces such as parallel ports, IEEE 1394 serial ports, game ports, USB ports, IR interfaces, etc. Wait, to connect.

A monitor 1344 or other type of display device may also be connected to system bus 1308 through an interface, such as video adapter 1346 . In addition to monitor 1344, computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printer, and the like.

Computer 1302 may operate in a networked environment through wired and/or wireless communications with one or more remote computers (eg, remote computer 1348 ) using logical connections. Remote computer 1348 may be a workstation, server computer, router, personal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, peer-to-peer device, or other public network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described for computer 1302, although , for the sake of brevity, only the memory/storage device 1350 is shown. Logical connections depicted include wired/wireless connections to local area network (LAN) 1352 and/or larger networks, eg, wide area network (WAN) 1354 . Such LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and corporations, and facilitate building enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which can be connected to a global communications network, such as the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1302 is connected to a local area network 1356 through a wired and/or wireless communication network interface or adapter 1352 . Adapter 1356 may facilitate wired or wireless communication with LAN 1352, which may also include a wireless access point located thereon for communicating with wireless adapter 1156.

When used in a WAN network environment, the computer 1302 may include a modem 1358, or be connected to a communication server over the WAN 1354, or have other means for establishing communications over the WAN 1354, such as through the Internet. The modem 1358 , which can be built-in or external, wired or wireless, is connected to the system bus 1308 through the input device interface 1342 . In a networked environment, program modules depicted with reference to the computer 1302 , or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory/storage device 1350 . It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are examples only and other means for establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.

Computer 1302 may be associated with any wireless device or entity operable in wireless communication, for example, printers, scanners, desktop and/or portable computers, portable data assistants, communication satellites, markers that can be detected wirelessly any device or location (e.g., kiosk, newsstand, break room), and telephone to communicate with. This includes at least Wi-Fi and Bluetooth ^TM wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be the same predefined structure as a regular network, or just an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

With Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity, you can connect to the Internet from your bed at home, your bed in a hotel room, or the conference room at your office without wires. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology similar to that used in cell phones, enabling devices such as computers to send and receive data indoors and outdoors, anywhere within range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use wireless technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, and fast wireless connections. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wired networks (these wired networks use IEEE802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5GHz wireless bands, at, for example, 11Mbps (802.11a) or 54Mbps (802.11b) data rates, or with products that include dual-band, such that the network can provide similar Real-world performance over basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet used in many offices.

A system as previously described is described using the interaction among multiple components. It should be understood that such systems and components may include these components or specified subcomponents thereof, certain specified components or subcomponents, and/or additional components. Subcomponents can also be implemented as components communicatively coupled to other components, rather than included within parent components. Additionally, it should be noted that one or more components may also be combined into a single component providing aggregate functionality. A component may also interact with one or more other components not specifically described herein but known to those of skill in the art.

What has been described above includes examples of the specification. It is, of course, not possible to describe every possible combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the invention, however, those skilled in the art will recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the invention are possible. Accordingly, the present invention embraces all such alterations, modifications and variations that come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "comprises" is used in the specification or in the claims, this term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to how the term "comprises" is interpreted when used as a transition word in the claims. of.

Claims (20)

1. A system comprising: A resolve component (108) that determines whether travel information should be transmitted to an auxiliary entity; and The contact component (110), if it is judged that the driving information should be transmitted, then allows the transmission of the driving information. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the travel information is position and velocity information of vehicles associated with the resolution component and the contact component. 3. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a range component that obtains a distance to a personal landmark, and automatically determines that the travel information should not be transmitted if the vehicle associated with the resolution component is within a standard distance from the personal landmark; and an identification component that may identify the user, the vehicle associated with the resolution component and the contact component, the entity retaining the resolution component and the contact component, or a combination of the former by a measure of the amount of time spent at a location Locations are designated as personal landmarks. 4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a selection component, when the driving information should be transmitted, at least one instance is selected, and the resolution component judges whether the driving information should be transmitted according to the selection, The travel information is position and velocity information of a vehicle associated with the resolution component and the contact, at least one instance being selected when the velocity of the vehicle exceeds, is equal to, or falls below a threshold. 5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a selection component for selecting at least one instance when the driving information should be transmitted, and the resolution component judges whether the driving information should be transmitted according to the selection , the travel information is the speed information, location information, and heading information of the vehicle associated with the settlement component and the contact, according to the current speed and the speed from the posted, transmitted from a central service or autonomously At least one instance is selected by an expected speed of a road segment shared between vehicles in an ad-hoc manner, a stored table of speeds, or an expected speed derived using a predictive traffic flow model. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the driving information is speed information, location information, and heading, and the speed information is based on the current speed in relation to the posted speed, transmitted from a central service, or autonomously transmitted from a central service. The ad-hoc approach is selected on the basis of differences in expected speeds derived from road segments shared between vehicles, stored tables of speeds, use of predictive traffic flow models, or a combination thereof. 7. The system according to claim 5, wherein the driving information is speed information, location information, heading, and whether to share the speed information is determined using the entire area or the historical change of highway speed based on the current or relevant environment. 8. The system according to claim 5, wherein the driving information is speed information, location information, and direction of travel, and in judging whether to share the speed information, the information value based on the expected information value or according to the utilization rate of the road section is used. Weighted measure of expected information value. 9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a transmission component that transmits the travel information to the auxiliary entity when transmission is enabled, the transmission component transmits an inhibit notification to at least one supplementary vehicle, the The above resolution components and contact components are associated with primary vehicles. 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a transmission component for transmitting said travel information to said auxiliary entity when transmission is enabled; and a transaction component that performs a reward function for the transmission of the travel information, the reward function including transferring funds to an account associated with the user, transferring toll credits, transferring points that can be used to acquire a product or service, or a combination thereof . 11. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a transmission component for transmitting said travel information to said auxiliary entity when transmission is enabled; a tracking component that measures a number of instances of the transmission component transmitting the travel information; and a relationship component that determines whether the number of instances is equal to or above a threshold that allows vehicles associated with the resolve and contact components to obtain membership in a travel group that allows all The vehicle collects driving information of at least one other vehicle related to the driving group or other services. 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the determination is based on a balance between a policy for regulating speed information, needs of an entity requesting the travel information, and at least one environmental factor. 13. The system of claim 1, further comprising an acquisition component that collects requests to transmit the travel information, the travel information being transmitted at random times within a specified tolerance after collecting the requests of. 14. A method comprising: determine an appropriate time to request the collection of speed information from at least one vehicle; and An instruction is transmitted to at least one vehicle at the determined appropriate time that speed information should be sent. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: identifying a previous instance of collecting information (1104); and A determination is made as to whether the information collected in the previous instance has an appropriate freshness level (1106). 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising: selecting said at least one vehicle on which to transmit said instruction; and Velocity information relocated from the at least one vehicle to which the instruction was transmitted is collected. 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising classifying areas in which speed information should be collected, the selected vehicle being located in the classified areas. 18. The method of claim 14, further comprising: transmitting said instructions to a group of more than one vehicles; obtaining a response from a vehicle of the set of one or more vehicles; and A suppression command is transmitted to at least one member of the group of one or more vehicles, the suppression command requesting that no speed information be sent. 19. The method of claim 14, further comprising: scanning a vehicle for a matching location range and directional range; and Scanning is stopped after a matching vehicle is found, from which a response is indicated to be found. 20. A system comprising: means for identifying (802) speed information of the vehicle that should be transmitted to the assisting entity by comparing the sensed speed to a threshold; means for determining (704) whether said vehicle is within a specified range of a personal landmark; means for checking (804) whether there is an instruction from the supplementary vehicle that speed information should not be transmitted; and Means (110) for allowing said speed information to be transmitted if said vehicle is not within said specified range and there is no instruction from a supplementary vehicle.

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